


Oasis

by cjmarlowe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, it's complicated - Freeform, war-related past character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-22
Updated: 2004-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-19 21:03:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmarlowe/pseuds/cjmarlowe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens to a relationship of convenience when the war ends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oasis

**Author's Note:**

> Written for The RemusxBill Fuh-Q-Fest.

He still had a bit of blue cloth torn from Bill's robe as they fled to the forest one November evening, nearly two years ago now. It felt silly to keep it, but nevertheless he did, and on certain days of the month he still found the scent of it to be as fresh as they evening he'd tucked it away. He held it sometimes, with care not to wear it thin, but mostly he kept it in a drawer, neatly alongside a checkered tie, an empty wand case and a pair of chopsticks. None of which he explained when Harry went messing about in his things during a visit on a Hogsmeade weekend.

"You should be revising," he said, pushing the drawer shut as Harry moved on to the cupboards above the sink and nicked himself a biscuit. "You haven't got much time left before you sit your NEWTs."

Harry rolled his eyes dramatically and threw himself into a rickety kitchen chair. "I've _been_ revising every _day_ ," he said. "Ever since we've been back at school. Hermione is in a state, you should see. As though she hasn't been preparing for this since she was eleven."

"Hermione is an extraordinary girl," said Remus, "who will, I am certain, do extraordinary things."

"She already has," said Harry, spraying crumbs across the dark tablecloth as he spoke. "And besides, we've been back a month. She's spent loads of time in the library. If _she_ isn't ready, there's no hope for the rest of us."

Remus nodded and smiled to himself and with a flick of his wand he banished the crumbs. "Are you staying for supper?" he asked. "It's only stew, but there's plenty."

Harry shook his head and sucked chocolate off his fingers. "I'm meeting someone tonight," he said with a grin, which quickly faded. "And..."

"And?" prompted Remus as Harry's face grew more solemn.

"And this afternoon we're having a thing, for Dean and Mandy," he went on. "Just us, just the students. Down at the monument. They want me to say a few words."

"Of course they do," said Remus with a soft sigh of sympathy. "Do you know what you'll say?"

Harry nodded. "It's not like the last time," he said. "This is friends, not strangers. I knew Dean and Mandy. I'm only afraid I'll have too _much_ to say about them."

Sometimes that, Remus knew, was when you found you could say nothing at all. But Harry had grown up to be an extraordinary young man, and he would manage. Somehow he always managed to do what needed to be done.

"Just say what you're feeling," he advised. "Your friends don't need speeches. And have yourself another biscuit before you go; it might be some time before you're able to meet your friend for supper."

Harry didn't have to be invited twice, stuffing one in his pocket, but not before breaking off a corner and popping it in his mouth. It would take more than a biscuit to tide him over, but until the stew was cooked Remus didn't have much else to offer.

"Thanks," said Harry, leaning back against the kitchen counter for a moment. "And thanks for..." He waved his hand vaguely. "You know."

Remus just nodded, and Harry pushed himself forward and started for the door. He knew he could never replace the boy's parents, he couldn't even replace Sirius, and he didn't really care to try. But after his friend's death he'd done his poor best to be what the boy needed, whenever he could. Not, he reminded himself, that Harry would be a boy much longer.

"Best of luck," he said as Harry picked his way onto the street, dodging puddles left by an overnight rain. "You'll find the right words, both this afternoon and this evening."

Harry looked back over his shoulder and smiled. "I'll owl you," he said. "I'll tell you everything."

Not everything, Remus was sure, but he didn't say so, and he waved until Harry disappeared around a corner, heading back for the main street of Hogsmeade. Funny how the war could change so many things, and leaves others just exactly as they should be.

~~~

There were times over the past month -- no, much longer now, but he refused to count the days -- when Remus had thought about owling Bill, just to see how he was. He wasn't even sure where he was, back at the Burrow, or perhaps he had a place in London now, or maybe he'd even returned to Egypt like he'd told Remus he'd dreamed of. He wondered if Bill ever thought about owling him, too.

Harry was still seeing that Hufflepuff girl he'd had a date with, the last time he'd been to Hogsmeade; Remus was getting regular updates from him on the progress of their relationship. Not to mention a note from Hermione suggesting that Remus encourage Harry to focus more on his studies. After all, just because she was seeing someone herself didn't mean she didn't make time to be sure she was adequately prepared.

Remus wondered just how Ron felt about that. But in another week, it would all be over.

When a school owl swooped down to the perch just outside his open kitchen window Remus figured it was from Harry again. He untied the note and, when the owl immediately launched itself into the sky again, assumed that no reply was expected.

It wasn't from Harry, though. Nor was it from Hermione again. It was from Dumbledore.

Remus read it thoroughly, twice, before setting it down on his table and going to find his best robes. Dumbledore was expecting him, and quite clearly already knew Remus had no reason to decline. Nor had he given him a chance to.

He Apparated to the gates of Hogwarts, though it was near enough he could have walked it in just a few minutes, and went the rest of the way on foot, pausing just before entering the castle to ensure he was presentable.

"Good afternoon, Professor Lupin," someone called to him cheerfully, and he just barely recognized a Gryffindor girl who would've been a first year when he was teaching. Spaulding, that was her name. Jenny Spaulding. The children had grown so much.

"Good afternoon, Miss Spaulding," he said, and she beamed as she turned back to her gentleman friend, both of them heading for the Quidditch Pitch. He wondered if she played.

For the first few weeks they stayed together in the house at Grimmauld Place, Sirius giggled every time one of the students addressed Remus as 'Professor Lupin'. Remus remembered telling Bill about that one night, about how he would have said something to stop him except he liked that it make Sirius smile. It was chilly that night, he recalled, and neither of them had wanted to stray far from the fireplace; it was, in fact, the first night he and Bill slept together.

"Oi, Professor Lupin!"

"Ron," said Remus, his lips twisting into a smile before he even looked up. "Don't you have a lesson?"

"No," he said with a shrug. "Are you here to see Harry? He's out on the pitch, unless he's in the library with Hermione." He rolled his eyes and Remus gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Thank you," he said, "but I'm here to see Dumbledore. He didn't give me a time, but I'm probably late nonetheless."

"I won't keep you, then," said Ron, falling into step next to Remus as he started through the corridors. "Dumbledore always gets that _look_ , when you're late. You know that look? But he never says a word."

"Yes," admitted Remus with another small smile. "I know that look. And how is your family?" he added, as neutrally as possible.

"They're all right," said Ron, hopping over a trick stone in the floor. "Mum says if the twins don't find their own place soon she's going to move their whole bedroom right out into the middle of the meadow one night when they're sleeping. And Charlie's out of St. Mungo's now, so that's everyone home, 'cept me and Ginny, of course."

"How nice for you," said Remus. "I'm sure you're anxious to be back there again."

"More like anxious to have my NEWTs over and done with," he said fervently. "Nasty is right. Why didn't anybody ever _warn_ us?"

"Remus. Mr. Weasley."

Ron stopped dead as they came upon Dumbledore just outside his office. "Headmaster," he said, respectfully and a little breathily. "Well, I ought to be revising," he said quickly. "I'll see you later, Professor Lupin!" And he was off the other way, leaving Remus to his meeting.

"I would imagine," said Dumbledore, "that if we were to look out my window five minutes from now, we would spot Mr. Weasley crossing the grounds to the Quidditch pitch. It seems a number of students are out there on this fine day."

"Stress relief, no doubt," said Remus, following Dumbledore up the stairs. "I seem to recall James and Sirius doing much the same, during out final days at Hogwarts."

"Much darker times, those," said Dumbledore. "It is a joy these days, to see the students' greatest source of fear be their wizarding examinations."

"It wasn't so long ago that it was not," said Remus. It wasn't so long ago that Hogwarts had been closed, however briefly, during the last weeks of the war.

"All the more reason to enjoy it now," said Dumbledore, taking a moment to look out his window, and smiling at something Remus could not see. "Please, have a seat. Would you like anything? Mr. Moorehouse has just returned from the continent and gifted me with some of the most splendid sweets."

"Thank you, but I've just eaten," said Remus. "You mentioned you had something to discuss with me."

"Indeed, I do," said Dumbledore, popping something caramel-coloured into his mouth and chewing with a look of bliss on his face. "Remus... you must know that I did everything I could. I would have liked nothing more than to have you return to teach at this school. But..."

"But the school governors wouldn't hear of it, of course," said Remus. "I'm flattered, but surprised you even suggested it to them, Albus. You must have known how it would turn out."

"It was closer than I suspect you think it was," Dumbledore told him. "In fact, I believe the deciding factor wasn't your status as a werewolf at all, but simply the fact that the governors wanted new blood in the school. Someone who could help leave the war years behind us."

"Since I wasn't aware I was under consideration," said Remus, "I can hardly be disappointed by the outcome. You needn't have brought me here to tell me, Albus."

"No, perhaps not," he admitted, taking another sweet and rolling it between his forefinger and thumb. "Perhaps I just wanted an excuse to have you visit me. You've been living in Hogsmeade since the end of the war and this is your first visit to Hogwarts."

"It takes time to settle in," said Remus, the excuse he'd used with Harry as well. "The house may have been mine for well over a year, but this is the first chance I've had to truly live it in. You wouldn't believe what I've found in the corners."

"You should get one of Molly's children in to help you with it," said Dumbledore benignly. "They did a wonderful job with the old Black residence."

"Yes, perhaps I'll do that," said Remus, tapping his fingers lightly on his knee. "Or perhaps if Harry stays with me after he finishes his exams, he'll find his vocation."

Dumbledore nodded and seemed profoundly amused at the possibility. "I have several colleagues on the continent, and elsewhere, who may well be interested in someone of your talents," he said after a moment. "You have an extraordinary gift for teaching children, Remus."

Remus found himself startled by the compliment, though Dumbledore had never been particularly stingy with them. "I... hadn't considered the possibility," he responded after a moment.

"Of course, I'll understand if you're content to settle in Hogsmeade village," said Dumbledore. "It is, indeed, a very comfortable place to make a home."

It was. And Remus had spent much of his life yearning for the comfort that he was now beginning to find. But then, with advances in the floo network brought about by the war, perhaps he wouldn't need to give that up.

"Should you learn of any open positions," he said finally, "I believe I would not be averse to being considered."

"Splendid," said Dumbledore, and popped the sweet in his mouth.

~~~

Remus had never been so glad that Apparation was signalled by a telltale crack. In battle, it had been more curse than blessing. Now, it meant that he wouldn't be greeting his guest in his underpants.

"Remus!" he heard, followed by a banging at his front door. "Open up! I know you're in there!"

Remus waited another few moments, then flung the door open. "Honestly, Tonks, another few moments and you'd have burst in without my help."

Tonks, predictably, overbalanced when the door was opened and ended up toppling forward into Remus, clinging to his robes in an effort to stay upright. He wished he'd had time to put on something more substantial, and wondered for a moment if he'd end up standing there in his pants after all.

"Well, it's good to see you too," he said as he held her by the elbows and gently pushed her off. She grinned at him and her bouncing brown curls, which had been obscuring her vision, shortened themselves into an infinitely safer pixie cut.

"Remus," she said again, and reached out to straighten his robes for him. He took a step back out of sheer self-preservation. "I'm desperate for your advice. Do you have a moment?"

"For you, Nymphadora? Always." He let her smack him on the shoulder for that, and put on the kettle for tea. "Is everything all right?"

"Of course!" she said, flinging herself in a very Harry-like manner into the chair, and resting her chin on her hands. "How is it I can face down a half dozen Death Eaters with a broken wand and a broken arm and not bat an eye, and the thought of standing up in front of a class of eleven-year-olds terrifies me?"

He had took the time to finish making the tea before answering, discreetly charming Tonks' cup to be unbreakable. "You're talking about the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, then," he said, setting it in front of her.

"I knew you'd have heard, living out here," she said. "Can't say I'm not surprised. I figured it'd go to some old battleaxe, and I'd stick with the Aurors for another fifty years or so until it came open again. But you've done it before, Remus, you can tell me what to expect."

"Expect the unexpected," he told her as he took his own seat. "That's the best advice I can give you. And never underestimate the students. What appears to be the least of them may one day be the greatest. But then, I doubt I need to tell _you_ that."

"I was _never_ the least of my class," she sniffed, fighting a grin. "And regardless of what Professor Snape may have told you, I do _not_ hold the record for most cauldrons destroyed in a single student's career."

"No," said Remus. "I believe you were ultimately surpassed by Neville Longbottom. Which, I think, only goes to prove my point. But you can't have received information on your classes already. McGonagall only sends that once the students have let out for the summer."

"No, I haven't got anything yet," she admitted, "other than word that come the first of September, the position is to be mine."

"Well, it won't do to fret about it all that time," said Remus. "Drink your tea, Tonks, and tell me what you've been doing since I saw you last."

Since that morning at Grimmauld Place, when the Order had met for the last time, then one by one had gone their separate ways. The wizarding world was a small place, there was no reason they wouldn't all see each other again, and soon, but it still had a grim feeling of finality.

"I've been working," she said, waving her hand over her hot tea to cool it off. "Still all kinds of messes to clean up. It's a good thing there's been so much interest in Auror training, these past two years."

"And yet you're leaving."

"Not leaving, not really," she said. "Just training up the next generation, is how I see it." She finally took a small sip, and scrunched up her face and reached for the sugar bowl. "I had lunch with Bill the other day."

"Did you," he said without looking at her. "I hadn't heard."

"Of course you hadn't," she said, "since you haven't spoken to him in weeks. I called him a liar when he told me, you know, since I couldn't _believe_ that you would do such a thing..."

"Do what, exactly?" he asked her calmly. "He and I had an understanding, Tonks. When we were together, we were _together_ , and when we were not, we... were not. It was never anything more than that."

"So even now that the war's over," she said, "if you just happened to run into each other somewhere, you'd be together again?"

Remus smiled into his tea. "Perhaps," he admitted. "It's not really the same, though, is it."

"No," she agreed. "The rules have all changed now." She reached for still more sugar, and knocked the teacup off the edge of the table with her elbow. "Oops!" she said as the teacup went flying, bouncing harmlessly off the floor and coming to a rest against the wall. "Well, will you look at that."

~~~

Tonks invited herself along to platform nine and three-quarters to greet Harry when he got off the train. Or rather, she invited herself over to Remus's house again to panic about whether the flesh-eating curse was fourth- or fifth-year level, and Remus was getting ready to Apparate to London, and things went from there.

"Wouldn't it have been easier," she said, staring at her reflection in the window and changing her hair from brown to black, then tweaking her eyebrows, "for Harry to just walk out the gates and not get on the train? London's a bit out of his way just to come back here again."

"And miss his last few hours as a student, with his friends?" said Remus. "Wouldn't dream of it. Are you ready to go? We'll be late if we don't leave."

"I'm never late," she swore to him, and stood up and with a wink popped out of existence. Remus sighed and shook his head and went after her, and hoped she'd thought to Apparate to Grimmauld Place and not Diagon Alley, since they hadn't discussed it beforehand.

He found Tonks in the kitchen, tracing her name in the dust on the countertop. "Collects fast, doesn't it?" she said as Remus stepped up behind her. "All that work to keep the place liveable..."

"Will not have gone to waste, once Harry decides what he would like to do with it," said Remus. "For all we know, it'll be packed with former Hogwarts students by this time tomorrow. But right now we have a train to meet."

Tonks rubbed out her name with the palm of her hand and followed him out of the deserted house, breathing deeply of the fresh air on the street. It was twenty minutes to King's Cross, and a few more to make their way to platform nine, and they'd just got comfortable against a wall when the first students started discreetly appearing through the barrier from platform nine and three-quarters.

Harry was near to last, of course, after many families had already cleared the platform, which did get inexplicably busy when the Hogwarts Express rolled in. Remus supposed that Ron and Hermione were right behind him, that they'd said their good-byes there on the platform before coming through, because when Harry spotted Remus he didn't hesitate to break into a half-jog to greet him.

"You came!" he said delightedly. "I half thought you were just going to stay home and wait for me to show up on your doorstep."

"I suppose your things are probably there by now," Remus said, noting that Harry had nothing with him. "I knew when Hedwig showed up on my perch that the train must have left."

"Didn't see any sense bringing her on the train with me, all cooped up, when she could just wait for me at yours," said Harry. "Tonks!"

"Harry!" she said, pulling him into a crushing hug. Harry was a full head taller than her, and Tonks wasn't particularly short today. "You look smashing."

"Did you come to meet me?" he asked her. "You didn't have to..."

"Didn't have to?" she said, squeezing him again before letting him go. "Of course I did. Not going to get another chance, now, am I? Of course, if you'll be staying in Hogsmeade, I'll be seeing you more often than ever."

"Oh?" said Harry, looking from Tonks to Remus and back again a couple of times. "Oh. Oh! But I thought..."

"She's going to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Harry," Remus interrupted him, before he took the final leap to the wrong conclusion.

"Oh!" said Harry again. "Oh, that's fabulous! They're going to love you, Tonks. Listen, I just need to talk to Ron for a minute, then we can go, all right? I need to make sure he's cleared it with his mum, what we're planning for this summer. I'll only be a minute."

And he was off, Remus and Tonks shrugging at each other and following in his wake. Only it wasn't just Ron and his mother that they met up with; the whole Weasley clan had turned up to meet the train. The _whole_ Weasley clan.

Remus didn't know why it should feel uncomfortable. Nothing about his and Bill's friendship had ever been uncomfortable, not even when they started shagging, not until that last morning in Grimmauld Place when neither of them had quite known what to say, except 'good-bye'.

"Bill!" said Tonks cheerfully, giving Remus a friendly nudge that he couldn't be entirely sure was intentional, given it was Tonks and all. "How good to see you! We were just talking about you the other day."

Before Bill could say a word, Charlie gave them a cheeky grin and pushed his brothers aside. "What? You were talking about Bill and not me? For shame, for shame."

"Well, talking about you goes without saying," Tonks assured him, pulling him to the side and leaving Remus to fend for himself. Which he was quite accustomed to, giving the senior Weasleys a warm greeting, telling Ginny how beautiful she'd become. Letting Ron and Harry conduct their secret business.

The twins were keeping Bill busy, which was both a disappointment and a relief. Adulthood had not mellowed them in the least, and even if it drove their mother to distraction, Remus was glad of it.

"All right," said Harry, suddenly at his side again. "All right, let's go. I'm famished."

"What, those ten chocolate frogs you ate on the train weren't enough?" Ginny teased him. "Boys. Honestly."

"It wasn't ten!" protested Harry. "It was more like... eight. And one of them got away anyhow."

"I'm sure I'm more than capable of making something to soothe the savage beast," Remus said mildly. Harry snorted.

"Come along, children," said Molly. "Your father's parked the car outside somewhere and we'll need everyone's help to find it. Come along, come along."

"I'll just get Tonks, then," said Harry. The twins had Bill by each arm, trailing after the rest of their family and whispering in his ears. Remus could only imagine what they were saying. Then, as one, they let go of his arms and shoved him back, and he reeled right into Remus's shoulder.

They both stilled for a moment, then Bill stood up straight again and brushed himself off.

"All right, then, Bill?"

"All right," he said.

"Oi, Remus," said Tonks. "Me and Harry are going back to Grimmauld Place. You'll be along?" Remus saw how hard it was for her to keep from grinning at him. He let her struggle for a few moments more before nodding. Harry gave him a cocky wave as they made their way out of the station.

"So," said Billy slowly.

"So," Remus echoed him. "Want to go back to mine?"

"Yes," said Bill promptly. "Yes, I do."

~~~

"Oh fuck, oh fuck," murmured Bill, his hands shaking the headboard as Remus pressed into him deep and hard.

They'd gone longer than a month between encounters before, but never more than the seven weeks it had been since they'd last seen each other this time. Remus felt like the pent-up desire of the entire span was coming out of him as he thrust into Bill's willing and pliant body.

"Budge up," he breathed, and leaving one hand on Bill's back, he pushed the inside of one of his knees with the other. Bill moved his knees forward and his arse in the air and Remus got even deeper, over and over until his sudden climax, leaving both Bill and the bed shaking.

"Bloody hell," said Bill as Remus finally stopped moving and lay heavily against him for a moment, just long enough to catch his breath. "That was something else."

"I just need a minute," whispered Remus, but it was much less than that when he gently pulled out and moved away to let Bill roll onto his back again. Bill moaned and reached down, past his straining cock and between his thighs.

"Do that thing," he murmured, "that thing you did that time."

Remus brushed Bill's hand away and plunged three fingers back into his body, filling him again, at the same time taking Bill's cock deep into his throat. That thing he did that time, which had become the thing he did every time the occasion demanded it.

Bill shouted when he came, something that wasn't words, or at least not words that Remus understood. Bill had come in Goblin one time; he'd still never told Remus what he'd said, he just blushed in that bright Weasley way every time it came up.

Remus drew his fingers out slowly and tugged on Bill's ankles to get him to lower his legs, giving them a little caress as he did. He grabbed his wand -- within reach, still, as always -- and muttered a quick couple of cleaning charms, not having the energy or inclination to take care of it the hard way. It was a little more uncomfortable, as always, but worth it when he was able to stretch out next to Bill without ever having got out of bed.

"That was brilliant," said Bill, looking absolutely wanton, red hair sprayed across the pillow and loose-limbed body spread across the bed. "I've had to listen to George and that French bird of his for days. Mum's no-silencing-charm house rule is a nightmare."

"Your mum likes to know what's going on," said Remus lazily.

"Yes, well, that doesn't mean the rest of us do," said Bill, rolling up onto his side and resting his arm over Remus's still-slightly-heaving chest. It reminded Remus of nights in Grimmauld Place, or in tents, or one time in a cave where they'd found safe haven during a rainstorm. All the times they'd been together, so naturally and comfortably.

"I never had an arrangement with anyone else," said Bill abruptly. Remus froze, even as Bill gently ran his fingertips over his side. "It's okay if you did. I know you spent a lot of time with Shacklebolt, and with Tonks. I just wanted you to know."

"I didn't either," said Remus when he found his voice. "Not with either of them, not with anyone else. Just you."

"Oh," said Bill, continuing to run his hand up and down Remus's side. "It's so funny now, how we're never really in the same place at the same time. I kind of got used to... what we had."

"Me as well," admitted Remus, sliding his hand overtop Bill's to still it, then lacing their fingers together.

"If we wanted to keep on with that," said Bill, "we'd have to..." Remus squeezed his hand gently. "...well, we'd have to make arrangements."

"I suppose we would," said Remus. He could feel his heart beating hard in his chest. "Arrangements such as breakfast tomorrow, for instance?"

"Just so," agreed Bill. "And the day after, as well, if you're keen on saving me from witnessing the further sexual adventures of George Weasley."

"I think that kind of arrangement would suit me well," said Remus, finally relaxing into the bed again, and letting Bill caress him however he liked.

~~~

Harry had bacon sizzling when Remus got up and wandered into the kitchen. It flipped itself neatly as Harry dug around in the cupboard and emerged with a tin of spice that, if Remus hadn't known better, he would have though had been placed there before the war.

Harry stared at it for a moment, then much to Remus's relief he put it back where he found it and left well enough alone. "You'll be along, indeed," he said as he turned to face Remus head on. "I'll have you know we _waited_ for you, Tonks and me."

"Liar," said Remus, not bothering to hold back his smile. "Tonks would never have waited."

"We did!" Harry protested. "Five whole minutes, before she took me to the Leaky Cauldron and got me well and truly pissed. Did you come straight back here then?"

"By way of the gents' at King's Cross," said Remus. "It seemed the quickest alternative. Have you made enough for three? It smells wonderful."

"Carnivore," said Harry, and with a flick of his wand the pan grew a little larger to accommodate. "I'd've thought Bill would have gone back to the Burrow last night."

"Now why would I do that," said Bill from the doorway, "when the company here is so good?"

The two of them had always been rather discreet about their understanding, among the Order. Or, rather, there had been little to be discreet _about_ , then. But Bill did not hesitate to make his presence known this time, sauntering into the kitchen looking absolutely well-shagged and putting his arms about Remus's waist for a moment.

"Why?" said Harry, turning his attention back to the sizzling bacon. "Because I've _had_ breakfast at the Burrow. And when the twins haven't hexed it, there's nothing can compare. Morning, Bill."

"Morning, Harry," he said, and kissed Remus's neck and let go, finding himself a chair.

"I would just like to say," said Harry, "that the room at the end of the hall is mine, and there will be no shagging in my bedroom." Bill covered his laugh with a cough. "Except by me," Harry added hastily. "I will be the only person shagging in my bedroom. I mean, me and whomever I am with will be the only people shagging in my bedroom. All right?"

"I do have a perfectly good bedroom of my own," said Remus placidly. "I take that to mean you'll be staying?"

"If I'm still welcome," said Harry, a little hesitantly now that he was asked. "I've got somewhere else to go, after all, if I'll be in the way..."

Bill looked like he was going to say something for a moment, but ultimately left it to Remus to handle. It wasn't, after all, _really_ about him. Not really.

"You're always welcome here, Harry," Remus told him, conversationally, as though it were a foregone conclusion.

"Even with..." said Harry, and waved his fork generally in their direction. Bacon grease dripped onto the floor, which he cleaned up with the toe of his sock.

"I'm not..." Bill said, then hesitated, glancing at Remus as though giving him a chance to cut in. But Remus had already said what Harry needed to hear. "Gringott's is sending me back to Egypt, once I've finished my current project."

Remus was unsurprised to hear that, though they hadn't spoken of things such as that yet. Bill would never have been truly happy otherwise. "And Dumbledore has suggested to me I might find a teaching position outside of Britain," he added. "You may well find yourself in charge of the household from time to time."

"You're _leaving_?!" said Harry incredulously. "But you only just..."

Remus glanced over at Bill and smiled. "We're wizards, Harry," he reminded him. "It's only as hard as we make it."

"You know," said Bill, "if you're looking to teach, there's a wizarding school just outside Luxor."

"Is there, now," said Remus. "Well that's certainly interesting. Harry, that bacon is going to burn in a moment."

"It is not," protested Harry. "See? It's already stopped cooking itself. And--for Merlin's sake, Remus, did I just see something _move_ in that corner? Were you always this bad of a housekeeper?" Harry grabbed his wand and went after it.

Neither Harry nor Bill seemed to understand why Remus laughed to long and so hard at this.

"So, Luxor," he said finally, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. "I hear it's very nice there."

"It is," Bill assured him. "I can vouch for it myself. Lots of sunshine, friendly people..."

"I shall have to look into it, then," said Remus. "Perhaps we can come to an arrangement."


End file.
